Food and Water Experts Establish Dialogue in Central America

Food security is considered one of the greatest challenges currently facing humanity. Water is a crucial natural resource in food production, and for this reason food and water experts met in Costa Rica. The aim was to establish a dialogue between the two sectors.

Over 150 key players participated in the event, “Central American and Dominican Republic Forum on Water and Food Security: The Water and Food Production Nexus” in San José, Costa Rica on August 9th, 2012.

Dr. Mohamed Ait-Kadi, Chair of the GWP Technical Committee, was keynote speaker at the event. In his presentation, he said that key threats to global food supply are the growing scarcity of water and land, as well as increased water and land inelasticity, declining agricultural productivity, and threats to agriculture through climate change.

Make Water Management a Priority

Dr. Ait-Kadi’s message to the audience was that a solution to the problems cannot be achieved in isolation, since international market elements must be considered in food production. Better water management needs to be a key priority when addressing food production issues.

He also stressed that political and economic governance of water and food systems must be improved at both national and international levels. Furthermore, agricultural barriers should be eliminated.

Ms. Gloria Abraham Peralta, Costa Rica Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, amongst other food and water experts, gave a presentation at the forum, highlighting the most burning issues facing Central America. A publication with a summary of expert presentations is available.

A joint conclusion of all forum participants was that without water security, there can be no food security.

Memorandum of Agreement

In addition, an outcome of the event was an Agreement, signed by GWP and the Central American Agricultural Council (CAC) with the aim to strengthen the coordination of actions to achieve food and water security in the region.